


Changing Sides

by roseleslie87fan



Category: Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:42:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 3,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29919837
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseleslie87fan/pseuds/roseleslie87fan
Summary: Short time before the Free Folk attack Castle Black, Ygritte decides to do something that will affect the whole of Seven Kingdom of Westeros and even Essos to a fair bit, and all because of her feelings for Jon Snow...
Relationships: Jon Snow/Ygritte
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. A Willing Surrender

**Author's Note:**

> Written for entertainment purposes only
> 
> Names, characters, locations and everything else in this story are the property of George R. R. Martin and HBO, I am just borrowing them for fun

It was near dawn at the Wall and two close friends of Jon Snow (not counting Samwell 'Sam' Tarly), Grenn and Pypar (Pyp), were holding watch near the tunnel entrance which led into the wilderness on the other side; the sun was about to rise in an hour, approximately, and they could then leave their guard post and take some rest after the whole night of standing guard...

All of a sudden, they heard a sound inside the tunnel, like fur rubbing against stone, and they turned the tips of their spears towards the darkened passageway; a few moments later, a beautiful girl with long, fiery red hair and icy blue eyes, dressed in heavy furs, just a couple of years older than Jon, judging by Grenn and Pyp's observance, appeared in the courtyard of Castle Black. They looked her up and down, appraising her;

it was clear that she was strong and resilient, as the women living on the other side of the Wall had had to be as well as their male counterparts among the Free Folk... The girl appraised them in return; Pyp was short and skinny almost as she was, but Grenn was a head-and-a-half taller and a few pounds more filled up than Pyp was; Grenn also had a thick, neatly cropped dark beard while Pyp only had a weak stubble.

In their opinion, the girl was barely armed, having only a long dagger with a bone hilt in the fur sheath on her left hip; _**was that the only weapon she carried with her at all times?**_ , they thought, not knowing that she left her weirwood bow and quiver of arrows in the Wildlings' camp before she escaped.

Seeing as the girl was not an immediate threat to them, Pyp and Grenn removed the tips of their spears from aiming at her fur covered body and Grenn motioned with his eyes at the hilt of her dagger; understanding the gesture, Ygritte slowly unsheathed her dagger and offered it to Pyp, hilt first; a moment later, Grenn gripped her bicep, not too strongly, and took her away towards the Ice Cells to place her there for the time being, although he was a bit confused; _**why would a wildling, and a girl at that, willingly gave up her weapon and surrender herself to the Night's Watch?**_ , he pondered...


	2. An Unpleasant Discovery

In the Free Folk camp, Tormund Giantsbane was the first to wake up slowly, or so he thought; pushing the tent flap aside and breathing in a lungful of fresh, cold air, he spotted Harma Dogshead standing a few meters away, firmly holding a long spear with both hands... - Have ya seen Ygritte anywhere? - he asked the old potbellied spearwife, but she just shook her head in negative, never being the one to spend too much words; Tormund grumbled something and went towards his daughter's tent. Pushing the flap aside, he saw her bow and arrows resting neatly on her fur bedroll and frowned in slight disapproval and worry. - What 'ave ya done, daughter? 'as that Crow boy been so worthy o' your love for 'im that ya decided t' act on tha'? - he muttered, shaking his head, and he turned his back and left a moment later, feeling worried despite knowing that Ygritte was a skilled fighter...


	3. First Night

With the nightfall, there was also an unbearable coldness; the wind seemed to cut like a blade of a dagger, and despite the thickness of her fur clothes, Ygritte shivered uncontrollably; the ice cell in which Grenn locked her a few hours ago was just as large that the top of her head was just a centimeter below the ceiling, while it was also so narrow that the young spearwife could not flex the stiff muscles of her legs nor make the cramps she felt go away, or atleast lessen the feeling; she was forced to keep her legs bent at the knees and she sat in that position for hours, her back slightly bent so that she could sit on the icy floor somewhat comfortably, as much as the small and narrow interior of her cell allowed her, and she felt utterly miserable for the first time in her life...

When one more gust of cold wind blew, freezing her and making her shiver somewhat strongly then before, Ygritte pulled her knees closer to her chest and let out a quiet sob; was she supposed to freeze to death, locked up in here, without having the chance to see Jon Snow whom she still loved fiercely, just one more time, even from a distance? With a distressed sigh, she turned on the side, lying on the cold floor now, with her hood pulled tightly around her to keep her face just a bit warm, her legs still bent and aching, and she closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy and restless sleep.


	4. Release From The Cell

It was the late morning of Ygritte's third day in the ice cell, and from a slight distance she heard the rumbling of the elevator which served to transport the black brothers from the training courtyard and the facilities in Castle Black on the bottom of the Wall to the top, where the guard stations were located. Several minutes later she heard the key turning in the lock of her cell door, and Pyp entered, while the fat crow, his face sweaty despite the chill in the air, with sad, half closed eyes, remained standing in the hallway behind; Ygritte quickly put two and two together, remembering when Jon described a few crows he was a good friend with to her once, while they roamed in the beyond, and she realized that this has have to be Sam Tarly... Pyp cautiously moved closer to her and crouched, slowly, being on his guard.

He unlocked the shackles around her ankles which were attached to the frozen wall, and he helped her getting back onto her feet, standing there with keys in his right hand, his left on the hilt of his sword; out in the hallway, Sam also gripped the hilt of his sword with his left hand, firmly. Ygritte stood there a few minutes before the stiffness was gone from her legs, and then she slowly followed after Pyp, who walked out of the cell and then Sam stepped in front of her, with Pyp following behind, and they slowly escorted her down the narrow hallway... 


	5. The New Instructor

The next day, Ygritte stood in the corner of the training courtyard, wearing her black uniform of the Watch; black cloth undertunic, woolen jerkin, leather surcoat, thick breeches and knee high black riding boots, a pair of thick leather gloves on her hands... She had to leave her long dagger in the fur sheath in her bedchambers in Hardin's Tower, though, but she was armed with a pair of Watch issued daggers in leather sheaths and an oaken longbow and quiver of arrows, painted black.

Ever since Ygritte has had been named a sister of the Watch, first of her kind in Castle Black, Jon succeeded in negotiating that she be given the position of shooting instructor for the new recruits when they came, and a bit of the older Crows, the novices who were at Castle Black for the last two-three years, but lacked a higher level of skill in using the bow and arrows in battle; of course, Jon's proposition caused a few older black brothers, like ser Alliser and the First Builder Othell Yarwick, to speak against such an offensive suggestion (in their point of view), but they were forced to relent and pull back seeing as not just Jon's friend Sam, Grenn and Pyp, but also Dolorous Edd Tollet and a few older Crows agreed with Jon's proposition.

After the meeting ended Thorne, Yarwick, Bowen Marsh and perpetually drunk septon Celladar left the dining hall, while the one-armed blacksmith Donal Noye and Three-Fingered Hobb, the cook, stood a few meters afar from those who welcomed Jon's idea of Ygritte being given the position she was named onto, and then they two also walked closer to the group of Jon's supporters, wordlessly showing their support...


	6. Second Thoughts

The night slowly fell over Castle Black, and Ygritte felt restlessness seeping through her bones; something was bound to happen that night, she could feel it inside her, something big and bad, but bad for whom?, she thought... Either way, her instincts warned her the whole day, but she knew not what was she warned about; were the Free Folk to attack Castle Black later that night? If that happened, what was she to do? In her heart, she was still one of them, but Jon spoke in her favor and he achieved for her to be released from the ice cells and be given an honorary position in the Watch; her thoughts were troubling... 

Ygritte was snapped back to reality a moment later, when she saw Olly, the boy who wandered over to Castle Black a few days ago, bearing the news about a small band of Wildlings attacking a small village in the Old Gift nearby; the lad described how a tall, bald man with scarred face attacked his father with a vicious looking double bladed battle axe, beheading the man in an instant, growling battle cries the whole time with a savage pleasure; how the man with a thick red beard rammed the dagger of his short sword into his mother's belly, and how the village was put to the torch afterwards...

Remembering what the boy said, Ygritte recognized the description of the men he told the other Crows about as belonging to her father Tormund, and Styr, Magnar of the Thenns... Doubt settled inside the young spearwife's heart; whose side should she stand on in the skirmish that was sure to come very soon? Should she be loyal to Jon Snow, for whom her heart yearned heavily, or should she stand on the side of the people among whom she was born and was raised by while growing up?


	7. Battle Preparations

It began two hours later...

As soon as the descending lift cabin touched the bottom of the Wall, Grenn ran out, sword in hand, followed by Jon, Pyp, Sam and Rast, their swords unsheathed as well, and Pyp yelled that the large fire was lit. Grenn and Rast ran off to raise all able bodied men to arms and to warn them about the beginning of the attack, while the lift slowly started ascending back to the top of the Wall... Ygritte took spot on the left of Jon, an arrow already notched onto the string of her bow; she, Jon, Sam and Pyp stood in the front lines of a soon-to-be-battlefield, the three boys gripping the hilts of their swords with both hands, nervously awaiting the arrival of the first of their enemies. Sam was slightly shaking in fear, for the most part, but she could also see a bit of anticipation on his sweat covered face as well... 

The horn echoed loudly once, and then for the second time after a few moments; ser Alliser Thorne appeared in the courtyard, sword unsheathed, Othell Yarwick, Bowen Marsh, Donal Noye and Hobb close at his heels the three armed with swords, Hobb holding a meat cleaver in his left hand, a knife in his right, and they were joined a few moments later by the old woodsman Dywen, gripping the hilt of his chopping axe with both hands and constantly sucking on his wooden teeth. 

The lift descended once more from the top, and a couple of young recruits, Ygritte's trainees, hastily ran out as quickly as possible and, slightly out of breath, informed Jon and ser Alliser that the Wildlings also had a few giants among their invading force, some of them riding the mammoths, but a few of them being on foot. - Giants?!? - Slynt let out a derisive scoff - there are no such things as giants. It's all the stories for children. 

Tha' may be the truth in the South where ya lived, Crow - Ygritte argued hotly - bu' 'ere in the North, they're very much real... - How dare you speak to me, you savage whore? - Slynt's face reddened with indignation and anger - Janos Slynt was commander of the Gold Cloaks, and I have friends who could make you regret ever opening your mouth to address me, so keep you mouth shut, wildling! - Brother Slynt - Donal Noye addressed him warningly - you will refrain from insulting our archery instructor ever again, is that clear? - his voice became a bit colder, a threat clearly heard in his tone. 

You dare?!? - Slynt sputtered in what he thought was self righteous shocked surprise - I was never a crippled nobody like you... - Enough! - Jon snapped - there will be time to discussing all of your private disagreements after this whole ordeal is over, but right now we have a more important task to center all of our attention to, and that is how to defend this castle and prevent us being slaughtered down to the last man or woman - here, he cast a momentary glance at Ygritte, which she returned, holding her bow at the ready - and not allow this place to be overrun by the Free Folk! 

A loud, thunderous cheer followed his words, and then ser Alliser began speaking. - Tonight, we will fight! - he yelled - this castle has stood for thousands of years; the Night's Watch existed for thousands of years! If any of you lose, you will end up in the belly of a Thenn, and there is no fate worse than that! We will not succumb to fear and despair, we will not surrender! This place will stand! The Wall will stand! We are the soldiers of the Watch, we are the swords in the darkness, we are the shields that guard the realms of men! We shall live and die in our posts, for this night and all the nights that will come! Now, Black Brothers and Sister of the Night's Watch, stand and fight!

A thunderous roar echoed from dozens of throats in response to the encouraging words of Castle Black's Master-at-Arms, just at the moment when Tormund and Styr, followed by a half dozen of Thenns and a younger giant slowly appeared out of the tunnel that led into the beyond on the other side of the Wall...


	8. Defending Castle Black

The battle lasted throughout the night; in the corner of the courtyard, near the stables, Ygritte was pushed against the wall, holding a sword of a fallen Black Brother who fell to Styr's axe a couple of minutes ago; she felt tired, and her two handed grip on the sword was feeble, all because of fatigue seeping through her bones... She spent all of her arrows hours ago, and he daggers were also lost somewhere in the courtyard, when she tried using them against one of the Thenns who had a two-handed long sword on him; despite her admirable fighting skill, daggers are pretty useless against a heavy long sword, which she found out, to her bad fortune and were it not for Grenn who killed the Thenn before running into the tunnel with Rast, Pyp, Noye and Dywen to stop the group of Hornfoots from breaching the defense of Castle Black and advancing further than they've already came, Ygritte would have had been killed right then and there. 

Gritting her teeth, Ygritte gripped the hilt of the sword she held more firmly and narrowed her eyes; Styr slowly advanced towards her, holding his axe lowered for the moment, and then, without any sign of warning that could betray his intentions to the beautiful Free Folk-born sister of the Watch, he swung his heavy axe; Ygritte barely had a moment to lift the blade in a vertical position in front of her face, but that was, unfortunately, all that she managed to do; Styr's axe clashed with her sword so aggressively that it was knocked out of her hand; she was now disarmed and powerless, unable to defend herself in the face of certain death that now awaited her.

All of a sudden, like a white blur, Ghost appeared out of nowhere, his red eyes flashing, and with a growl he jumped onto Styr, knocking him down, ripping the Magnar's throat out in the next moment, killing him in a blink of an eye... Ygritte grabbed her sword from the ground and she and Ghost went in search of Jon; they found him near the front gateway, barely standing of how tired he felt, just the same as Ygritte felt. Tormund had two arrows sticking from his back, luckily nowhere near his heart, and he was weaponless, his short sword lost who knew where...

\- Tormund, surrender, it is over - Jon said, his tone was almost like begging. - I should have knocked you off from the top of the Wall, boy! - the red bearded man roared in rage. - Aye, you should have - Jon sighed and turned his back on him, walking away from the courtyard, not sparing a single glance at the corpses of ser Alliser or Othell Yarwyck, their hands still gripping the hilts of their swords, nor the dead body of septon Celladar, iron pitchfork with a wooden handle lying on the ground near him, its tips bloodied; when the two brothers who held her father's arms slowly led him away to lock him up, a tear slowly trickled from Ygritte's eye and down her cheek, and then she dropped the sword she held onto the ground, turned her back and went to look for her daggers and long bow...


	9. Aftermath

A gloomy, cloudy dawn slowly arose above the rooftops of Castle Black, and the survivors gathered the dead bodies of both the defenders and attackers onto two piles to be burned sometime later, all but the corpses of two giants, Dongo the Old and the younger Mag Mar Tun Doh Weg, called Mag the Mighty for short, because of their size; Grenn, Pyp, Rast and Noye were killed defending the tunnel, their swords still near them, while Hobb and Dywen layed in the snow covered soil of the courtyard... - They gave their lives defending the Wall, and now their Watch has ended - Jon spoke solemnly. - And now their Watch has ended! - echoed Ygritte, Sam, Dolorous Edd, maester Aemon, Bowen Marsh, Olly and the rest of those few that were gathered in the courtyard...

Edd passed a lit torch to Jon and Jon brought it closer to the two piles of dead bodies; the flames soon began licking the flesh and skin of the attackers and the defenders. A couple of minutes later, Jon heard Sam coyly clearing his throat behind his back, and he, Ygritte and the other people gathered turned, seeing Sam leading a shocked and sputtering Janos Slynt, holding his upper arm; behind them stood Sam's Free Folk lover, Gilly, holding Little Sam, the infant son she bore to Craster, the now deceased Free Folk informant, a turncloak who was always loyal only to himself; she decided to name the babe Little Sam, since she fell in love with the former heir of Horn Hill. - Where did you find him, Sam? - Jon asked. - Uh, he was hiding in the shed with Gilly and Little Sam - Sam replied, smile tugging at the corner of his mouth - he sat there on the floor in a rather compromising and unflattering position, in a puddle of his own making. 

Lies! - Slynt yelled, his face colored crimson and purple with rage, amidst chuckles of some of those gathered - I will not have my honor mocked like this! - Nobody mocks your honor, lord Slynt - Jon replied, smiling lightly - we are all, however, denying its existence.

\- Insolent pup! - Slynt growled - I will no allow myself to be ridiculed by the traitor's bastard! - You should have had stopped at 'insolent pup', lord Janos - Jon spoke, his voice suddenly cold, his face solemn, and so were the faces of the others gathered there... - Who gave you the right to threaten me, bastard?!? - Slynt sputtered furiously - do you not know who I am? - I know very well who you are - Jon replied - a man who betrayed his oath of service for a large amount of golden dragons in his pockets.

\- Watch your tongue! You... - Slynt's angry cry was cut short at a hand gesture from Jon; Dolorous Edd walked closer to the man and put his hand over the fat craven's mouth, efficiently putting a halt to his objections, while with his other hand he gripped Slynt's shoulder. - Sam - Jon turned to his friend - please help Edd to take lord Slynt into the ice cell that Ygritte previously was locked in. - Sam gave a short nod and then he approached Slynt, Edd and him grabbed his arms and slowly led him away from the courtyard...


	10. A Justice For Traitor

Sometime before dawn a few days later a small group of people gathered in a corner of the training courtyard, namely maester Aemon, Bowen Marsh, Jon, Sam, Ygritte, Gilly (holding Little Sam, who was asleep), Tormund (whom Jon requested be liberated from his cell and given his weapon back), and Olly...

A few minutes later, Edd and Ser Denys Mallister, who arrived from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea a day and a half ago, brought Janos Slynt with his hands tied behind his back, and they forced him to kneel and lower his head above a tree stump which served as the executioner's block, located near the armory; Edd left and came back several minutes later, carrying in his arms a sword with a two handed grip, in black leather sheath and with a masterly carved head of a white direwolf with blood red eyes as a hilt decoration; they all looked in amazement at the sword, while Edd walked closer to Jon and extended the hilt to him; Jon was confused at first, but in the next moment his hands gripped the hilt and he pulled the sword out...

\- Janos Slynt - he spoke firmly - you stand accused of hiding during the defense of Castle Black against a larger Free Folk assault group in the company of a young woman and her baby son. Do you deny these charges? - Yes, I deny it! - the former lord commander of the Gold Cloaks yelled - Janos Slynt is no craven like your fat friend here, bastard! Set me free immediately or you will regret it! I have powerful friends in high positions! I... - here, Edd could not take the fat bald man's incessant yapping anymore, so he pulled a piece of black cloth from his belt and stuffed it into Slynt's mouth; Slynt spat it out, and that was his last move he was ever again to do in his insignificant life; the blade of the sword that Jon held was brought down at the coward's neck, and his severed head rolled over the courtyard for a few meters before ending up at the doorframe of the smithy; Jon wiped the blood off the blade, returned it to its sheath and extended it towards Sam, for him to take the sword and put it back from whatever room or chamber it was taken from, but Edd shook his head and told Jon that from that moment on Longclaw belonged to him...


End file.
